Fulton County DA Fani Willis, judge in Trump 2020 election case both face primary challengers

Both Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who is overseeing the 2020 election case against former President Donald Trump, are facing primary challengers in their respective races this year. 

Willis indicted former President Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants last year over their efforts to challenge the 2020 election results in Georgia. Last week, McAfee presided over a hearing following Trump co-defendant Mike Roman's allegations that Willis financially benefited from a romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, whom she hired to pursue the case. 

Wade and Willis have acknowledged the relationship, but insisted it began after she hired Wade. Last Friday, McAfee indicated that he would issue a decision within two weeks on whether Willis will be disqualified from prosecuting Trump in the 2020 election case. 

In her May primary election, Willis is facing a Democratic challenger, attorney Christian Wise Smith, who ran against her in 2020, the Associated Press reported. The only Republican candidate running in the district attorney’s race is Courtney Kramer, who said she was an intern for three months in 2018 in the White House counsel’s office under Trump. 

Willis said on Wednesday, “I’ve said it before, being the district attorney of Fulton County is the greatest honor of my entire life. I love this community. It’s my home. It’s where I raised my children. It’s where I want to keep safe.” 

Friday at noon was the deadline to file to run in the district attorney’s race. Wise Smith told reporters that he filed to run because he was “going to see how things go over these next couple of weeks and then we’ll make a call.” 

“Ultimately I want what’s best for the citizens of Fulton County,” Wise Smith said. “And when the time is right, my team and I will make the right decision and we’ll be ready to go should we officially launch.” 

Kramer, for her part, said Friday that under Willis, the district attorney’s office “has been a complete disgrace” and “a clown show.” She added that her run was prompted by the Trump indictment, and she claimed Willis was “using her office for political reasons.”  

“The resources that were used for that investigation could have been used for many other things that would have been much more beneficial for the citizens of Fulton County, and I want to give those citizens a voice, an opportunity to vote for somebody else,” Kramer told reporters. 

Meanwhile, McAfee is facing two challengers in his nonpartisan race in May: civil rights attorney Robert Patillo and another Fulton County judge’s staff attorney, Tiffani Johnson. 

McAfee, who has been both a federal and a state prosecutor, told the AP that he is looking forward to proving to voters that “my track record shows I am the best candidate to provide Fulton County with efficient, unbiased, and nonpartisan application of the law.” 

Patillo said that his campaign is focused on “competency, compassion and change.” 

He added that he is looking to challenge the “prosecutor-to-the-bench pipeline” and make sure “an equitable system that is interested in actually getting to the truth and not just having plea deals and moving cases along.”